6 days ago (monday) i bought a savannah monitor at an animal store.... i also got crickets and i was told they would eat plenty of them.... however, i dont think my monitor has even ate once yet since ive got it...what should i do?
how old is your sav? what are the temps? what substrate is he on? what is the humidity? how big is the enclosure? when was the last time it pooped? it could be that he just doesnt want crix anymore. at a certain age they do not take insects as prey and you have to move to pinkies or fuzzies. the basking spot should be 120F with an overall temp of 80-85F. if he has pooped recently then he should be hungry, if not then he may be impacted. if he is on a bark substrate remove that and use topsoil (untreated dirt) or eco-earth or bed-a-beast
Age: unkown, but young at about 6-8 inches temps: ranges from 80-93 degrees substrate? All natural Reptilites calcium substrate humidity: unknown i currently have it in about a 10 gallon aquarium, but i will be getting a bigger one sometime soon, thats if it lives... and the last time it pooped was like 3 days ago...
maybe the crickets are too large?...is there anything that i can trying find it at a young age besides crickets that might be in my fridge or cupboards?
take out that calcium sand. they arent desert animals and the calcium sand isnt good for any herp it has been proven to cause impactions. use untreated dirt or coconut fiber (bed-a-beast or eco-earth). you could try raw ground turkey or raw ground meat or raw steak cut up small, or go and get some pinkies. around 6-8" could be roughly 3-5months old. please get a bigger tank and provide a basking spot of 120F. this will help him properly digest
yeh, the same thing hgappend with my lil' guy. you definetly need a bigger cage, that is barley good enough for a gecko. make sure all the temps'humidity is perfect get thermometers humidity gage etc. once you are sure that is all good you should try again. also, try to get small pinkies. make sure they are small enough or he won't bother. mine was on a pinky only diet for about a month. that was all he would eat, but once he starts with crix make sure you keep the diet steady, and throw in more variety of other insects.
remember that the 120 basking spot is a surface temp. ambient temps should stay around 88-low 90's on the warm side and 75ish on the cool side. You really should not have gotten a sav yet. a 10 gallon will only last you a month maybe... and its impossible to maintain a temp gradient...you neet a 50- 75 gallon for its first year and after that maybe a small room or at least an 8x4x2.5 enclosure... sounds like an impulse buy to me, but hey whats done is done, so try to get the right set up going or the poor animal is gonna die. I'd recomend a temp gun for monitoring temps in the cage, they are 25$ at www.tempgun.com and are way more accurate than thermometers. It is vital that you get the basking temp up, If your monitor cant get warm it wont be able to poop or want to eat. Good Luck, if you have any questions PM me and I'll be glad to help
tempguns only work if you are aiming and pointing at the area or checking the temp of your animal. get a digital thermometer from walmart and it will work fine, but the temp gun is awsome too
also you nned to realize that the savv is defenitly under some serious stress so let him adjust to his neew environment and in the process change the substate and get a bigger cage
Why would you need a digital thermometer? A temp gun can do everyting a digital can more accurately. If you hold the button you can drag it across the tank and get the full gradient in one sweep. Miy bearded dragons tank goes from 110 to 80. I have never seem the need to get a thermometer, and a temp gun can be used in all cages so you wont need more than one to monitor all your animals. I get ambient temp reading by holding my temp gun a foot or so over the tank so only the air in the tank is being read. I check basking temps by putting the temp gun right next to the spot. It works very well
digital will always have a monitor on the spots so all you have to do is give it a quick check. for basking spot surface temps i would go with the temp gun always as nothing compares to it. but everyone has their own preference. what temp gun do you have? i have the PE1
yea i keep the probe in the tank and then i have the reader on top of the cages. i run the wire down the side where the sealant is
id listen to what klik has to say he knows what hes talking about but in case heat, humidity, substrate is all up to par, look at his eyes and make sure they r wide open a half closed eye is a sure sign that something is wrong. pet shops are notorious for selling sick animals. if he is at least a foot long and all his diet ever consisted of is crickets, he totally missed out on nutrients found in pinkies and fuzzies. and calcium sand is just garbage. also another idea for food source is shrimp. or egg specially the yolks my savs tear that up like its candy. just remember to cut off the tail if u do try. but savs r like if it was once alive, its a food source. just no raw poultry.
